Bacteriological quality of some swimming pools in Alexandria with special reference to Staphylococcus aureus.

Abstract

Swimming pools have been identified as posing some public health risks to users due to either bacterial or chemical contamination. As a result, maintaining good swimming pool water quality is an important issue in preventing health risks for bathers. This study aimed to evaluate the bacteriological quality of some swimming pools in Alexandria and to investigate the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in water samples. A total of 120 water samples from 10 swimming pools were collected. Bacteriological analysis included heterotrophic plate count (HPC) using pour plate method; enumeration of total coliforms (TC), Escherichia coli (E. coli) and S. aureus by membrane filtration technique. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed on isolated S. aureus. Residual chlorine and pH were measured at swimming pools side. HPC was the least complying microbial parameter, followed by TC. S. aureus was recovered from 18 samples; 9 isolates were methicillin resistant S.aureus (MRSA), compared to E. coli that was detected in 7 samples. HPC and TC showed statistically significant correlations with all investigated parameters. In conclusion, the examined pools showed poor quality regarding all examined parameters collectively according to the Egyptian guidelines, which necessitates implementation of proper measures to ensure safer environment in swimming pools.